More than 300 firefighters from across Oregon come together at the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training in Salem for a weekend of emergency response training.
ANNA REED / Statesman Journal

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Firefighters, led by Shaun Wagner, left, a captain with Dallas Fire and EMS, learn how to use hydraulic sheers to cut open a car in case of an emergency during Winter Fire School hosted by the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) at the Oregon Public Safety Academy in Salem Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018. More than 300 career and volunteer firefighters from throughout Oregon attended the weekend training course.(Photo: ANNA REED / Statesman Journal)Buy Photo

More than 300 career and volunteer firefighters from across Oregon trained for vehicle rescues, emergency vehicle operations and flammable liquids safety as part of a two-day training school in Salem.

The winter training school has been hosted by the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training, or DPSST, for the past 15 years and was offered for free to firefighters from more than 30 fire districts throughout the state.

"I've responded to some car wrecks, but the patients extracted themselves, so I'm learning a heck of a lot about the concepts you need to be thinking about while rescuing patients," said Jen Zamon, a volunteer firefighter with the Louis and Clark Volunteer Fire Department in Astoria.

She became a firefighter three years ago, soon after witnessing a car crash and assisting at the scene. She was helping a victim on the side of the road when firefighters and EMS officials arrived at the scene.

"One of the guys from the fire department said 'have you ever thought about being a volunteer firefighter?'" Zamon said. "The next thing I knew, I was in."

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Firefighters wait for their training scenario to be assembled during Winter Fire School hosted by the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) at the Oregon Public Safety Academy in Salem Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018. More than 300 career and volunteer firefighters from throughout Oregon attended the weekend training course.(Photo: ANNA REED / Statesman Journal)

Zamon was one of roughly 30 firefighters who received vehicle rescue training from Dallas Fire Department officials during light snowfall Sunday morning. They wore full firefighter garb, minus the oxygen tank, when analyzing a crash scene that officials staged as part of an exercise.

Officials used a forklift to drop one car on top of another toppled car. They dropped an independent gas line on the cement next to one car and ensnarled the cars in more than a dozen feet of powerline to provide some real-world issues firefighters may encounter while assessing a crash site.

"You have to be aware of what the potential hazards are and how you deal with them," Zamon said. "I'm learning how important it is to work as a team."

Shaun Wagner, the captain of Dallas Fire and EMS Department, taught the firefighters how to stabilize cars when they're stacked on top of each other and helped them identify the different electrical components of a car in order to quickly, and safely, use hydraulic cutters to cut through a car and rescue a dummy trapped inside.

"Understanding how to extricate is the difference between getting someone out of the car in 60 minutes versus getting them out of the car in 15 minutes," Wagner said. " You have the golden hour to get someone out to the hospital... without causing them further damage."

Dallas Fire Captain Ken Waller said his department typically responds to about 200 extractions a year throughout Highway 22 and Highway 99 West. On Sunday, Waller instructed firefighters how to use saws, air chisels and hacksaws when cutting through a car instead of gas or electric-powered tools often only found in larger fire departments.

"I've never done this on a Mercedes Benz SUV before," Waller joked, pointing at the luxury car getting torn apart by firefighters.

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Firefighters, led by Shaun Wagner, left, a captain with Dallas Fire and EMS, learn how to use hydraulic sheers to cut open a car in case of an emergency during Winter Fire School hosted by the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) at the Oregon Public Safety Academy in Salem Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018. More than 300 career and volunteer firefighters from throughout Oregon attended the weekend training course. ANNA REED / Statesman Journal

Firefighters assess a car accident scenario during Winter Fire School hosted by the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) at the Oregon Public Safety Academy in Salem Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018. More than 300 career and volunteer firefighters from throughout Oregon attended the weekend training course. ANNA REED / Statesman Journal

Firefighters wait for their training scenario to be assembled during Winter Fire School hosted by the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) at the Oregon Public Safety Academy in Salem Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018. More than 300 career and volunteer firefighters from throughout Oregon attended the weekend training course. ANNA REED / Statesman Journal

Vehicles are smashed and stacked on top of one another to simulate a car accident for a training scenario during Winter Fire School hosted by the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) at the Oregon Public Safety Academy in Salem Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018. More than 300 career and volunteer firefighters from throughout Oregon attended the weekend training course. ANNA REED / Statesman Journal

Ken Waller, center, a captain with Dallas Fire and EMS, leads a class on how to cut open a car in case of an emergency during Winter Fire School hosted by the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) at the Oregon Public Safety Academy in Salem Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018. More than 300 career and volunteer firefighters from throughout Oregon attended the weekend training course. ANNA REED / Statesman Journal

Firefighters learn how to use standard tools to cut open a car in case of an emergency during Winter Fire School hosted by the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) at the Oregon Public Safety Academy in Salem Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018. More than 300 career and volunteer firefighters from throughout Oregon attended the weekend training course. ANNA REED / Statesman Journal

A firefighter mocks helping a patient trapped in a vehicle during a car accident scenario at Winter Fire School hosted by the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) at the Oregon Public Safety Academy in Salem Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018. More than 300 career and volunteer firefighters from throughout Oregon attended the weekend training course. ANNA REED / Statesman Journal

A vehicle is dropped and smashed to replicate a car accident for a training scenario during Winter Fire School hosted by the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) at the Oregon Public Safety Academy in Salem Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018. More than 300 career and volunteer firefighters from throughout Oregon attended the weekend training course. ANNA REED / Statesman Journal

Firefighters assess a car accident scenario during Winter Fire School hosted by the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) at the Oregon Public Safety Academy in Salem Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018. More than 300 career and volunteer firefighters from throughout Oregon attended the weekend training course. ANNA REED / Statesman Journal

The Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) at the Oregon Public Safety Academy in Salem Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018. More than 300 career and volunteer firefighters from throughout Oregon attended the weekend training course. ANNA REED / Statesman Journal

Firefighters, led by Shaun Wagner, center, a captain with Dallas Fire and EMS, learn how to use hydraulic sheers to cut open a car in case of an emergency during Winter Fire School hosted by the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) at the Oregon Public Safety Academy in Salem Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018. More than 300 career and volunteer firefighters from throughout Oregon attended the weekend training course. ANNA REED / Statesman Journal

Hayden Jones, left, with the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training in Salem, and David Jensen, Fire Training Coordinator for the Eastern Oregon District of DPSST, drive in a skid truck to practice driving on slick roads during Winter Fire School hosted by the DPSST at the Oregon Public Safety Academy in Salem Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018. More than 300 career and volunteer firefighters from throughout Oregon attended the weekend training course. ANNA REED / Statesman Journal

A skid truck, used when training for driving emergency vehicles on slick roads, is lifted by hydraulics to simulate a skid safely for training during Winter Fire School hosted by the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) at the Oregon Public Safety Academy in Salem Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018. More than 300 career and volunteer firefighters from throughout Oregon attended the weekend training course. ANNA REED / Statesman Journal

Hayden Jones, left, with the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training in Salem, and David Jensen, Fire Training Coordinator for the Eastern Oregon District of DPSST, drive in a skid truck to practice driving on slick roads during Winter Fire School hosted by the DPSST at the Oregon Public Safety Academy in Salem Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018. More than 300 career and volunteer firefighters from throughout Oregon attended the weekend training course. ANNA REED / Statesman Journal

Training equipment is stored during Winter Fire School hosted by the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) at the Oregon Public Safety Academy in Salem Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018. More than 300 career and volunteer firefighters from throughout Oregon attended the weekend training course. ANNA REED / Statesman Journal

The Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) at the Oregon Public Safety Academy in Salem Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018. More than 300 career and volunteer firefighters from throughout Oregon attended the weekend training course. ANNA REED / Statesman Journal

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Eleven classes were offered by DPSST, the National Fire Academy, the Oregon Fire Chiefs Association and the Dallas Fire and EMS Department.

The training weekend also provided firefighters the opportunity to drive a skid truck, which is a bed-less truck custom made with hydraulic cylinders capable of lifting and moving the truck to imitate the feeling of skidding on ice.

Hayden Jones, of the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training, got behind the wheel of the truck to demonstrate how the truck works.

As roughly 80 percent of Oregon firefighters are volunteers, Jensen said it's important they feel comfortable behind the wheel of emergency vehicles.

Jones' colleague and eastern Oregon department coordinator, David Jensen, said they are not teaching firefighters how to drive faster, but instead drive smarter in extreme weather conditions.

The DPSST has trained thousands of people with the skid truck to prepare for these conditions, said Eriks Gabliks, the director of the department.

"This really helps with our volunteer firefighters because most people don't drive with air breaks," Gabliks said. "This is technology that only exists in a couple other places in the United States for firefighter training."

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A skid truck, used when training for driving emergency vehicles on slick roads, is lifted by hydraulics to simulate a skid safely for training during Winter Fire School hosted by the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) at the Oregon Public Safety Academy in Salem Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018. More than 300 career and volunteer firefighters from throughout Oregon attended the weekend training course.(Photo: ANNA REED / Statesman Journal)

Jensen said two types of skidding can happen to fire trucks when ice or snow blankets highway, city or rural roads. One type is when the front wheel skids when the driver is traveling forward and tries turning the wheel, but the car continues straight. The second type is when the front wheels get traction on the road but the rear wheels do not, causing the rear wheels to skid.

"Sometimes we’ll get into situations where it was icy in a corner that we didn’t know about, so this helps us determine what to do you when you’re in that situation," Jensen said.

Captain Waller said that applications of real-world situations in training environments are important. Waller, who has been a firefighter since 1985 and has hosted winter training exercises for the past 15 years, said the teachers often learn just as much from their firefighter students over the course of the two-day event.

"When we work together, they'll tell me stories and we'll learn from each other on a given objective," Waller said. "We refine what we do and we don't know everything... but the hope is that in real life on the street we can make good, educated decisions."